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Summary of Document

This file contain the minutes for the Local Advisory Committee for the Kent region. The documents in the file span the time period from 29 January 1985 to 31 May 1990.

The 13 February 1985 meeting marked the first formal meeting of the Advisory Committee, which documented problems with the ILR operated by Invicta Sound. The board noted that they were lacking committee members for the teenage-girl and retired-man places. In the Kent region Invicta Sound only had a 1.8% audience share, which was well below the 11% share enjoyed by the pirates and the 14.8% share of Radio 4. Much of the input from the committee was varied criticism of the output of the station, with the criticism that the local news was Canterbury focussed.

The minutes from the 4 December 1986 indicated the same sort of critique and criticism by the committee members. The overall feeling was that the station was geared towards a younger audience, and was not covering the local area very well. This lack of detailed coverage was attributed to the wide coverage area.

By the time of the 6 April 1987 meeting, Invicta seemed to be reaching a larger audience, with a strong male listenership, below the age of 55. The main topic of the meeting was the Green Paper written by Michael Johnson suggesting changes to the structure of radio broadcasting in the UK, and releasing more channels for commercial broadcasting. The future of IBA stewardship of the ILRs was in question. Also discussed was the AIDS prevention campaign on radio and Invicta’s news service. The committee expressed the view that Invicta’s news contained local coverage, but was not giving a good coverage of the daily happenings in Kent, and the distinction between local and national was not clear.

By the 13 January 1989 meeting the main discussion was on the government White Paper on “Broadcasting in the ‘90s’, with the feeling that the government was unconcerned with radio broadcasting, and was concerned about the abandonment of advisory committees. Invicta had divided into two stations, and now had a Coast AM station. Complaints from the committee were on the overplaying of songs, and the need for Invicta to expand its playlist.

Document:

Page 4 on AIDS broadcasting from the minutes of the 6 April 1987 Local Radio Advisory Committee Meeting